The Greatest Minor League Baseball Blog of All Time

Job Seeker Journal: Linda Le, 12/2 & 12/3/12

Throughout this year’s Baseball Winter Meetings in Nashville, four attendees of the PBEO Job Fair have agreed to keep a journal chronicling their employment seeking experiences. (Meet them all HERE.) In this installment, Linda Le recaps her first two days in the Music City.

12/2/12: Hello Music City!

The week started early for us job seekers (one day earlier, to be precise) and was filled with inspiring guest speakers and their stories about endeavoring into the world of long work days, low paying opportunities, yet rewarding moments – also known as the world of professional baseball.

The Business of Baseball Workshop was an all day event that provided information on the ins and outs of working in professional baseball. When I entered the designated room where the workshop was being held, I instantly felt the eagerness and the anxiety amongst all the other job seekers. One may think that it would feel intimidating too see 400 – 500 other job seekers all in one room knowing that we are all here for the same reason, but for myself it reiterated how beloved this industry is and how much people are willing to do to get their foot in the door.

The reality of working in professional baseball was repeatedly illustrated through the presentations of both Juliana Paoli, the CMO for the San Jose Giants and Giovanni Hernandez, the Scouting Assistant – International Operations for the Detroit Tigers. I was trying to count how many times the words “ramen noodles” came up in Giovanni’s presentation, which was concise and pretty much blunt on the topic of becoming an intern. Oh, how memories of my university days were flooding my mind.

After the workshop was completed and we got a chance to view the current job postings, I was exhausted. Needing to reflect and take everything in I decided to grab a quick meal. At the bar of one of the restaurants in the Gaylord Opryland Resort (which by the way is a city on its own), I was able to strike up a conversation with the gentleman sitting next to me, who happened to be a scout for the Arizona Diamondbacks. Upon introduction I thought to myself the amount of people that attended the workshop earlier in the day who would have loved the opportunity to be sitting next to a scout, let alone a scout for a Major League team.

The moment in the bar illustrated the power of networking and how easily a connection can be made from just a simple conversation. This particular conversation happened to start off with the scout indicating he was from Chicago, then I proceeded to profess my love for Chicago food (Deep dish pizza, Harold’s Chicken Shack and Al’s: anyone from Chicago will know these references).

After exchanging contact information I walked away thinking that the conversation I had was just as informative as the all day workshop. It also made me realize how here at the Winter Meetings, there are endless opportunities to meet and connect with great individuals – it doesn’t just pertain to the confines of the job fair.

The Gaylord Opryland Hotel: a world unto itself

12/3/12: Let’s Play the Waiting Game

I was hopeful to walk into the interview schedule room to see if my name was listed on any of the postings I had applied to in the previous evening. Of course I was not the only one there and it was overwhelming to see the faces of disappointed individuals who either did not see their names listed or even the posting itself.

I circulated around the room which by 11am only had about 20 – 30 lists for scheduled interviews. None of the postings I had applied to were up yet for scheduling interviews – not a big deal I thought, it was early in the day. I didn’t want to be like most of the attendees there who were nervously checking every 30 minutes for any new information, so I decided to wander off and explore the rest of the Winter Meetings. If I learned anything from the previous day it was to build on my network and to foster new connections.

During lunch I had the opportunity to meet with the Director of Corporate Sales for one of the minor leagues. I looked at this whole waiting game situation in a different perspective. My down time waiting for new job postings or interview schedules encouraged more opportunity to meet baseball executives.

I went through another round of checking for new postings I was interested in as well as checking up on any new interview schedules. I left the day still not seeing any of the interview schedules for the postings I had applied to from the previous day. The waiting game continues.

At this point it was the opening night for the Baseball Trade Show, a nice distraction from the chaos of the job fair. As the day was winding down, I thought it well needed for myself and other job seekers to be surrounded by inflatable mascots and free beer!

—

There will be much more to come from Linda and our other three job seekers throughout the week. In the meantime, my own recap of Day One of the Winter Meetings can be found HERE. I’d really appreciate it if you check it out.

Meta

The following are trademarks or service marks of Major League Baseball entities and may be used only with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. or the relevant Major League Baseball entity: Major League, Major League Baseball, MLB, the silhouetted batter logo, World Series, National League, American League, Division Series, League Championship Series, All-Star Game, and the names, nicknames, logos, uniform designs, color combinations, and slogans designating the Major League Baseball clubs and entities, and their respective mascots, events and exhibitions.